Things You’ll Relate To If You’re a Remote Worker in Vizag: A Rant

As cool as remote work sounds, the real ones know the effort it takes to keep our sanity intact. If you are a Vizagite and work remotely, there is an added irony: you live in a city with beaches, cafes, events, and plenty to explore, yet you spend most of your time staring at the same four walls. You begin to miss the salty breeze and refreshing hilltops that you would rather be spending your time enjoying.  If all this sounds familiar, read on to soak in the sea of relatability!

1. Feelings of Isolation

Even though remote work has its perks, it can get monotonous after a while.

You start to feel devoid of human connection, and the only interaction with your colleagues is through a small portable laptop camera, which is, most of the time, turned off. It begins to feel like you are getting attached to a machine instead of a living, breathing human being.

And then you start thinking of all these intricate fantasies – chatting away near a water cooler, going out on team lunches, playing games during leisure, or celebrating milestones and bonding over the little things that you get to experience only in-office. Is the remote work life worth it?

2. Work-Life Balance Is a Myth

While most distractions are now out of the equation, workaholics tend to drown themselves in work just to appease the feeling of being productive. Standard working hours turn into double shifts, as time slips through your hands, clocks, and mind. You start dreaming of work and thinking about your job as soon as you wake up from your three-hour slumber.

In the midst of keeping your stats and maintaining your performance (as commendable as it seems) this is one form of overcompensation one does to feel in charge of their work-life balance. But the sooner you realise the damage being done, the sooner you will come out of the mirage that clouds your judgement of what actual productivity is.

3. Home Affairs Hover Right Above Your Head

Just imagine this: you are in the middle of an important meeting, dressed quite professionally from the waist up, but no one is going to know, obviously, that you have been lounging in your shorts underneath that polished appearance that you so hurriedly nailed in the last two minutes before the meeting was about to commence, as your manager texted that everyone needs to turn their cameras on.

You wonder if your manager actually values your unwavering dedication, or if he’s only concerned with putting up a good front for HR, or worse, the founders. Too tired to even question the practices, you attend the meeting, only for a family member or, worse, your neighbours to erupt into chaos in the background, forcing you to stay muted the entire time even though you wanted to participate.

4. Me Time, What’s That?

No one is quicker than friends and family to dismiss remote work culture. They neither comprehend nor attempt to understand that, truly, one does not get to spend time with themselves, much less with others. On top of that, if it is a six-day working week, then nothing feels better than bed-rotting when you finally get a day off – even though the entire week was already spent at home.

The thing is, remote workers do not have the energy to step out and face the world head-on! They do not want to engage in petty discussions and waste what little energy is left after attending to chores on the one day that was supposed to be spent relaxing.

Even if people experience FOMO and want to live life to the fullest on their precious weekend, there are just too many things to do and not enough time to materialise them!

5. Disconnected Into Dilemma

After staring at the computer screen for the whole week, you cannot help but yeet your phone the moment you hit the sweet spot on your bed. It’s either that or endless doomscrolling that will eventually mess up your circadian rhythm. Most remote workers stop going out to theatres, do not cater to their hobbies and become so disconnected from reality that they might end up becoming laughing stocks in their groups for not keeping up with the latest hot topics.

So, in conclusion, if you are a remote worker, learn to go easy on yourself. And if you know anyone who works remotely, remember to give them some grace and the benefit of the doubt.

Also read: Visakhapatnam through Marocharitra: Relatable Moments and Quirky Takes!

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